On Nov. 1, 1952, Laura E. Karnis and Charles O. McGettigan Jr. were married. They are now members of an exclusive club across the country; couples who are married 70 years represent just one-tenth of 1 percent of all marriages.
Known affectionately as Charlie and Laura, the couple lived in Wilton their entire married life. They raised seven children, four daughters and three sons, and have 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. The families are located in New Hampshire, Maine, Florida and California, with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio, Colorado, Washington, Georgia and Texas.
Charlie and Laura built their home on McGettigan Road in 1953 by clearing the land, milling the lumber and working with their own hands. They were helped by Charlie’s sisters and brothers, Laura’s father, and a few contracted helpers. They stayed in their own home for 68 years until two years ago, when during the pandemic, they moved into the Summerhill Assisted Living Community in Peterborough. Laura and Charlie are now 90 and 91 years old, with Charlie turning 91 on Nov. 3.
They first met at a square dance in Mont Vernon when Laura asked Charlie to dance during “Ladies’ Choice.” He retells this memory often with tears in his eyes and relates how lucky he was to have found Laura, his “beautiful redhead,” or, as he likes to say: “Laura chose him.” At the time, Laura was attending Keene Teachers College and Charlie was working at the OK Tool Company. After meeting at several other dances and courting for a while, Charlie and Laura decided they were meant to be married. Laura left college and became Charlie’s wife and the two began their journey to build a family and life together.
The couple has had many wonderful adventures along their 70-year journey. Building a house together and starting a family was only the beginning. While ensuring that the family home ran smoothly, Laura volunteered with the Wilton Brownies and Girl Scouts, helped in the children’s classrooms, served several years as a supervisor of the checklist and as a library trustee and worked part-time at the Maude Adams Quality Shop when the children were older. Charlie served on the Wilton Board of Selectmen for 24 years, served several terms as a water and a sewer commissioner, overseer of welfare and a cemetery trustee, was a volunteer fireman, and finished his service to the town as road agent for more than 18 years, retiring in 1999.
In recognition of his years of service, Charlie was named Citizen of the Year in 2011.
Together, Charlie and Laura ran the Wilton school bus company for 21 years, operated the Jones and Whiting textile firm, including building a new facility and moving the company to Wilton, and built a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard for the family to enjoy. In 1970, Charlie and Laura embarked on a true adventure and took five of their children on a three-week cross-country trip to California and back in a camper, where they visited family and friends and saw many national landmarks and parks and covered more than 3,000 miles.
Their children were taught by example to work hard, to always do their best, to never be afraid to go the extra mile and to support one another along the way. They learned the importance of being active citizens, volunteering, sharing with others and caring about the world. They became nurses, teachers, engineers, accountants, IT professionals, office managers and more.
The family celebrated the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary on Nov. 1 at Summerhill Assisted Living, with all seven children making the trip to be there on this momentous day. The extended families could not attend as they were following COVID-19 protocols. The children shared some of the famous “rules” delivered along the way by their parents such as: “Do the hard jobs first,” “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right,” “There are needs and wants. The needs come first” and “If you put things back where they belong, you wouldn’t be looking for them now.”
The seven children recalled 70 of these parent-isms to share with Laura and Charlie and with one another. They had everyone remembering lots of lessons they learned along the way and invoked many laughs.
The celebration continued at the home of Steve and Niki McGettigan in Temple, where many stories, much laughter and lots of memories were shared. The family recognizes the incredible milestone that their parents have achieved and realize how lucky and blessed they are to have been raised by such great parents and true role models. They want to share with the extended Wilton community the news of this milestone and the wonderful lives and the impact that Charlie and Laura McGettigan have had on so many.
— Submitted by Steve McGettigan